Customer Reviews

South of Reason: A Novel

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For anyone who remembers being conflicted and confused by a mother's irrational behavior, or half in love with someone else's mother, look no further than South of Reason. It's the era of lawn sprinklers and bicycles and marshmallow salads and adolescence without sex, drugs and Britney. Even a stranger to South Texas will feel its heat and dust, its mixed cultures and rituals of food, in Cindy Eppes's wonderful novel. Strong, memorable characters populate the town of Rosalita, and young Kayla Marie's daily life. And characters with pasts, and secrets. Experiencing Kayla's adoration and heartbreak and wonder is a pleasure. Highly recommended.

Mysteries and jealousies swirl and simmer in the heat of a south Texas summer. The story twists through the pages like a tumbleweed in a hot Texas wind. The child Kayla comes of age ... and to an awareness that things aren't always as they seem. "Mother used religion as a wifely whip," Kayla observes. Meanwhile, neighbor Lou Jean washes her hands compulsively. Families, betrayals, and friendships are never quite as they appear. Balanced by an inherently nice, although spineless father and a wild and rowdy grandmother, Kayla watches as her family life crumbles and transforms, and begins to see things from a different perspective, while the beautiful neighbor next door spirals out of control. And her mother changes into ... what? Full of unexpected twists and turns, the summer Kayla's family moves from Cameron to Rosalita evolves into an ever changing mosaic of emotion.

From her depiction of the sticky juice of a ripe peach on a hot day to the portrait of a night of Texas football, Cindy Eppes gives an amazingly brilliant portrayal of a sense of time and place, betrayer and betrayed, and of the heart and soul of a girl coming of age. An amazing entry in the "first book" category. I highly recommend this.

In Kayla, Cindy Eppes has created a young narrator who's smart, sassy, articulate and a joy to be with. The story - not an easy one to pull off - is skillfully crafted and precisely told with humor and warmth, in memorable fashion. I read right though it, and can't wait to see what Ms. Eppes will pull off next.

Although this work is set in a fictitious small, South Texas town which is palpable in its colorful description, the REAL environment is the human mind and soul. That's why it transcends Rosalita. The characters allow us to see how, and why, they feel- in a way that makes the reader understand their own life better, and perhaps why we are drawn to and put off by certain people in our world. The reader will first wonder what drives certain people to behave so badly, others so heroically. When more and more of their driving force is revealed, you quite likely still feel no less good or ill toward that character that you now understand deeply. Doesn't matter if you are in South Texas or the South Bronx - you will enjoy knowing these characters and relating to them. And the ending is like a great live performance... You will be pleased, but wanting just a little more.

I love Southern fiction and Eppes's new novel fulfilled all my expectations. South of Reason is the story of Kayla Sanders, 13 years old in 1967 when her parents move back to their hometown of Rosalita in Texas. A secret lurks and simmers in the heat that summer and as the months unfold Kayla is made aware of what it is. Details--of the heat of a Texas summer; of mouth-watering food that comforts; of a small-town life, where everyone knows everyone else and their secrets--are vividly painted with Eppes's skillful use of language, as she takes us through Kayla's life in this summer of madness when everyone seems to be south of reason.

South of Reason brings a part of the world not often written about into wonderful reality. The characters are rich, quirky, and endearing. Two weeks after finishing the book, I find them still with me, as silly as it seems, wondering what Kayla is doing or if Lou Jean is in her kitchen canning jelly. Eppes has a way of writing about tough subjects, obsessive compulsive disorder, extramarital affairs, and even abortion without making them heavy and depressing. The whole tone of the book is one of meeting life's adversities with humor and initiative. That's why it stays with me, I think. Read it. Then read it again.

South of Reason is a wonderful book. I enjoyed it more than anything I've read in quite a while. The characters are complex and believable and the story is totally engrossing. As in real life, each person had some traits that were admirable and others that were less admirable, and some questions were left unresolved at the end. I hated to finish South of Reason because now I'm going through withdrawal, missing the characters and wanting to know what happened to them next!

The book has a few minor errors - for example, a description of a photograph initially states that the photo shows someone from behind, then describes how the person's face looks in the photo. And there are some mix-ups of "it's" and "its." But these are minor quibbles.

I had never heard of South of Reason when I happened to come across it at the library; I still have not seen any published reviews of it or any publicity for it. This surprises me. Other books that were highly touted in the media have disappointed me with their implausible plot turns or unbelievable characters (e.g., Bee Season, Blue Diary). South of Reason is a much better book and I hope that it finds the readership it deserves. And I hope that Cindy Eppes writes more books!

A very good first novel from Cindy Eppes. The story starts when Kayla and her parents move back to their childhood home. Her father gets a transfer there, and they buy a home next door to a high school friend, Lou Jean. Kayla's grandmother comes over, after they move in. And Kayla overhears her grandmother and her mother talking in low voices, as to why they moved here in this house, next to Lou Jean in the first place. Kayla doesn't understand and starts to set out and find out why all the whispering and secrets. Soon, her family is falling apart. The the reason's why become all to clear to her. And her friendship with Lou Jean doesn't help the matters. Kayla starts to realize that the boy next door has a very good resemblance to her father. And her mother becomes very "nice" to him, yet won't speak a kind word to Lou Jean. This book takes you on a journey through the life of a thirteen year old and how she comes to terms with all the secrets. Kayla is mature beyond her 13 years. Read the book, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I hope Eppes will write a sequel to Kayla's life after that summer. There are more unanswered questions.

This book hooked me in the beginning, but then gave away all the secrets before it was half over. Then the action stops as the characters all get clued in. Not much happens after that, but I would give bonus points for a nice, wrapped-up ending (I just hate it when writers think they're being clever by ending the book three chapters too soon!).

That said, I really loved the punchy-but-descriptive prose style of the writing. Add some stronger plot development and in future stories, and this could be a really good novelist.

I love coming of age books & this one is great. Poor Kayla is full of questions about the mysteries that seem to surround her family & she is constantly seeking answers...some answers she doesn't really know how to cope with; like finding out that her new neighbor may be a half brother about the same age she is. Living with a mother teetering on the edge of insanity & a dad that seems to want to hide from the truth is not an easy thing for a young girl reaching adolescence. I enjoyed all the quirky southern characters that Kayla meets along her way of discovery. Very good book.